[HISTORY: Adopted by the Rochester City Council
10-23-1973 by Ord. No. 73-564. This ordinance also repealed former
Chapter 75, Noise, adopted 11-25-1941, as amended. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
A.
The Council determines that the making and creating
of excessive noise within the limits of the City of Rochester is a
condition which has existed for some time and the extent and volume
of such noise is increasing.
B.
The Council further determines that noise on streets,
sidewalks, public parks or places is most likely to interfere with
the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the City and to injure human,
plant and animal life, property and business.
C.
The Council further determines that schools, churches,
courts, hospitals, nursing home and homes for the aged are places
where special precaution must be taken in order to ensure their proper
functioning.
D.
The Council further determines that construction activities,
sound reproduction devices for miscellaneous purposes, loading and
unloading of boxes and containers, and animals and birds are among
the most frequent causes of annoying and disturbing noise.
A.
The City of Rochester hereby intends to prohibit all
excessive noise from all sources subject to its police power in order
to preserve, protect and promote the public health, safety and welfare
and the peace, quiet, comfort and repose of the inhabitants of the
City and visitors thereto and to prevent injury to human, plant and
animal life, property and business, to foster the convenience and
comfort of its inhabitants and facilitate the enjoyment of the natural
attractions of the City.
C.
This chapter shall be liberally construed to provide
an effective noise control program.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The measurement of sound approximating the auditory sensitivity
of the human ear as measured with a sound-level meter using the A-weighing
network. The unit of measurement is the dB(A).
Any or all activity, except tunneling, necessary or incidental
to the erection, demolition, assembling, altering, installing or equipment
of buildings, public or private highways, roads, premises, parks,
utility lines (including such lines in already constructed tunnels)
or other property, including land clearing, grading, excavating and
filling.
The unit of sound measurement, on a logarithmic scale, of
the ratio of the magnitude of a particular sound pressure to a standard
reference pressure which for the purpose of this chapter shall be
0.0002 microbar.
A public calamity or an exposure of any person or property
to imminent danger.
Any gong, siren, whistle, air horn or similar device, the
use of which on emergency vehicles is permitted by Subdivision 26
of § 375 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
Any sound which endangers or injures the safety or health
of humans or animals or annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of
normal sensitivity or endangers or injures personal or real property.
[Amended 2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36]
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property
is or may be transported or drawn, which is propelled by any power
other than muscular power, except vehicles which run only upon rails
or tracks. This definition shall include but not be limited to trucks,
buses, automobiles, vans, motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, motor
scooters, dune buggies, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, go-carts,
minibikes, trail bikes and all other types of motorized recreational
vehicles.
[Added 2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36]
Any erratic, intermittent, statistically random oscillation
or unwanted sound.
Any individual, partnership, company, corporation, association,
firm, organization, governmental agency, administration or department
or any other group of individuals, or any officer or employee thereof.[1]
A device intended primarily for the production or reproduction
of sound, including but not limited to any radio receiver, television
receiver, tape recorder, musical instrument, phonograph or sound amplifying
system.
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "sound
level meter," which immediately followed this definition, was repealed
2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36.
[Amended 9-6-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-278]
A.
No person shall make, continue, cause, or suffer or
permit to be made or continued, and the owner and the person in control
of a motor vehicle and the person in control of a premises shall not
suffer nor permit to be made or continued, any excessive noise. It
shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section if noise
emanating from any source, including, but not limited to, voices or
other sounds caused or emitted by humans, is:
(1)
Audible beyond the property line of the premises from
which it emanates between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
(2)
Audible at a distance of 50 feet beyond the property
line of the premises from which it emanates between the hours of 8:00
a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
(3)
Audible at a distance of 50 feet from the source if
emanating from a public street, public park or other public place.
B.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to
noise emanating from the following:
(2)
Festivals, parades, block parties and other special
events where a permit has been obtained from the Office of Special
Events for such purpose.
(3)
Political or religious activities or the operation
or use of any organ, bell, chimes or other similar instrument from
on or within any church, synagogue, temple, mosque or other house
of worship.
(4)
Any permitted athletic competition or recreational
event held on athletic fields, stadiums or public places in the City.
(5)
Lawn mowers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, chain saws,
tillers, mulchers, chippers and other devices used for the care and
maintenance of lawns, yards and vegetation, between the hours of 8:00
a.m. and sunset.
(6)
Air conditioners.
(7)
Snowblowers, snowthrowers or snowplows.
(8)
Emergency generators.
(9)
Manufacturing operations.
No person shall operate or use or cause to be
operated or used any sound reproduction device for commercial or business
advertising purposes or for the purpose of attracting attention to
any performance, show or sale or display of merchandise in connection
with any commercial or business enterprise, including those engaged
in the sale of radios, television sets, phonographs, tape recorders,
phonograph records or tapes in front or outside of any building, place
or premises or in or through any aperture of such building, place
or premises abutting on or adjacent to a public street, park or place
or in or upon any vehicle operated, standing or being in or on any
public street, park or place where the sound therefrom may be heard
upon any public street, park or place or from any stand, platform
or other structure or from any airplane or other device used for flying,
flying over the City or on a boat or on the waters within the jurisdiction
of the City or anywhere on the public streets, parks or places; provided,
however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit vehicles from
which ice cream products and similar products are sold from being
equipped with a bell not exceeding three inches in diameter, or a
set of up to four such bells, nor prohibit the use thereof by the
driver of such vehicle, provided that no such bell or set of bells
shall be capable of being heard from a distance greater than 400 feet
and provided further that no such bells shall be used for any purpose
between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. nor be used as an ordinary
warning signal at any time.
No person shall operate or use any radio, musical
instrument, television, phonograph or other machine or device in or
on any bus or public means of conveyance, other than taxicabs, in
such manner that the sound emanating from such sound reproduction
device is audible to another person.
No person shall cause the sounding of any horn
or signaling device on any automobile, motorcycle, bicycle or other
vehicle, except as a danger warning.
[Amended 2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36]
No person shall operate or use or cause to be
operated or used any emergency signal device, except:
[Amended 2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36]
A.
Sound level.
(1)
No person shall operate or cause to be operated any
motor vehicle in such a manner that the sound level emitted therefrom
exceeds 80 dB(A) either:
(2)
This subsection shall not apply to those motor vehicles
being operated upon a public street to which § 386 of the
New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law applies.
B.
This section shall apply to all motor vehicles, whether
or not duly licensed or registered.
A.
No person shall engage in or permit any person to be engaged in construction activities which create excessive noise at the property limits of the construction site between the hours of 10:00 p.m. of one day and 7:00 a.m. of the following day on any day of the week, except as is permitted in Subsections B and C hereof.
B.
Following the receipt of a written application for a variance from the requirements of Subsection A, the Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development may, within a reasonable time, grant a variance authorizing such construction activities upon the applicant's demonstration of hardship and/or practical difficulty in meeting said requirements or upon a determination that the public interest will be served by the granting of the requested variance. The Commissioner shall set any stipulations deemed necessary in the interest of the public health, safety and/or welfare at the time of granting such a variance.
[Amended 2-10-1981 by Ord. No. 81-45; 6-16-1987 by Ord. No. 87-173; 6-16-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-179]
C.
In the case of an emergency, construction activities
directly connected with the abatement of such emergency may be undertaken
without obtaining a variance, for a period not to exceed 72 hours
from the commencement of such activities, during which time application
for a variance hereunder shall be made. In such an emergency, construction
activities shall not continue after the seventy-two-hour period unless
prior to the expiration of that period at least verbal approval is
issued by the Commissioner or his or her authorized subordinates to
continue such activities and unless written confirmation of such verbal
approval is issued within four hours following the start of the next
normal business day of the Department of Neighborhood and Business
Development. Approval or confirmation shall not be withheld unreasonably.
[Amended 2-10-1981 by Ord. No. 81-45; 2-14-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-22; 6-16-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-179]
[Amended 2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36]
No person shall create or permit to be created
any noise on any street, sidewalk or public place, or on private property
adjacent to any school, institution of learning, church or court while
the same is in use, or adjacent to any hospital, nursing home or home
for the aged, which noise unreasonably interferes with the working
of such school, institution of learning, church or court or which
disturbs or annoys patients in a hospital, nursing home or home for
the aged.
[Amended 2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36]
A.
No person shall use or operate or suffer or permit
to be used or operated, and the owner and the person in control of
a motor vehicle and the person in control of a premises shall not
suffer nor permit to be used or operated, any radio, television, stereo,
compact disc player, musical instrument or other machine or device
for the producing, reproducing or amplification of sound with louder
volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the person or
persons who are voluntary listeners thereto. It shall be prima facie
evidence of a violation of this section if sound emanating from such
machine or device is:
[Amended 9-6-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-278]
(1)
Audible beyond the property line of the premises upon
which it is being used between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
(2)
Audible at a distance of 50 feet beyond the property
line of the premises upon which it is being used between the hours
of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
(3)
Audible at a distance of 50 feet from such machine
or device if operated from within a motor vehicle on a public street.
(4)
Audible at a distance of 50 feet from such machine
or device when operated in a public park or other public place.
B.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to
the following:
(1)
Funeral processions or use of such devices by a church.
(2)
The production of music in connection with any parade
authorized under any provision of law.
(3)
Festivals, musical performances, block parties and
other special events where a permit has been obtained from the Office
of Special Events for such purpose.
[Amended 4-15-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-118]
(4)
The use of amplifiers or other sound producing instruments
or equipment in connection with any religious or political activity
or any permitted athletic competition or recreational event held on
athletic fields, stadiums or public places in the City.
No person shall make or permit to be made excessive
noise in connection with loading or unloading of any vehicle or the
opening, unloading or destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers.
No person shall keep or permit the keeping of
any animal or bird which makes excessive noise.
A.
Contracts with City.
(1)
Contract. As used in this section, the term "contract"
means any written agreement, purchase order or instrument whereby
the City is committed to expend or does expend funds authorized by
the capital or annual budget of the City, in return for work, labor,
services, supplies, equipment, materials or any combination of the
foregoing; however, the term "contract" shall not include:
(a)
Contracts for financial or other assistance
made with a government.
(b)
Contracts, resolutions, indentures, declarations
of trust or other instruments authorizing or relating to the authorization,
issuance, award and sale of bonds, certificates of indebtedness, notes
or other fiscal obligations of the City, or consisting thereof.
(c)
Employment by the City of officers and employees
of the City.
(2)
Contracting agency. As used in this section, the term
"contracting agency" means any board, bureau, department, commission
or other agency of the government of the City, or any official thereof,
who or which is authorized to and does, on behalf of the City, provide
for, enter into, award or administer contracts or any other public
agency which enters into, awards or administers contracts pursuant
to which funds authorized by the capital budget of the City of Rochester
are expended.
B.
Contract provisions. No contract shall be awarded
or entered into by a contracting agency unless such contract contains
provisions requiring that:
(1)
Devices and activities which will be operated, conducted,
constructed or manufactured pursuant to the contract will be operated,
conducted, constructed or manufactured in compliance with all of the
laws, rules and regulations in effect on the date of the execution
of the contract, of all federal, state and local governmental bodies
and agencies.
(2)
Such devices and activities incorporate advances in
the art of noise control developed for the kind and level of noise
emitted or produced by such devices and activities.
[Amended 2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36]
[Amended 9-28-1982 by Ord. No. 82-443]
A person violating any provision of this chapter shall be subject to the penalties set forth in § 13A-11 of the Municipal Code.
The provisions of any section of this chapter
shall not be deemed to modify or otherwise affect or be in substitution
for any provision of any other section of this chapter or other chapter
of the Municipal Code of the City of Rochester, but shall be cumulative
thereto.
If the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent
with any other provision in the Municipal Code of the City of Rochester,
or with any rule or regulation of any department, bureau or governmental
agency of the City of Rochester, the provisions of this chapter shall
be controlling.
Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause
or phrase in this chapter be declared unconstitutional or invalid
for any reason, the remainder of this chapter shall not be affected
thereby and shall remain in full force and effect, and to this end
the provisions of this chapter are declared to be severable.
[Added 2-8-1983 by Ord. No. 83-36]
A.
This chapter shall be administered and enforced by
the Chief of Police and the Neighborhood Service Centers Administrators.
[Amended 9-6-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-278; 7-15-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-254]
B.
The Chief of Police shall develop and promulgate measurement
standards, testing methods and procedures to provide for the effective
implementation and enforcement of this chapter.
[Added 11-19-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-373[1]]
Any person who observes or has knowledge of
a violation of this chapter may file a signed deposition, under oath,
with a police officer, specifying the objectionable conduct, the date
thereof, and the name and address, if known, of the alleged violator.
A police officer shall investigate each complaint and, if the complaint
is supported by probable cause, issue a notice of violation therefor.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided
that after a period of one year the Mayor would provide a report to
the City Council on the usage and effectiveness of citizens' depositions
in noise cases.
